A 30-year-old Somerville man who guided deer hunts in Fayette County without the required license has been ordered to pay $60,000 and give up his hunting privileges for five years. The hunts, which were advertised on Facebook, left seven deer illegally harvested over two seasons. A Georgia client who took part in the hunts was sentenced months earlier.
According to WBBJ, Austin Elrod guided deer hunts in the Fayette County area without the required guiding license. The station reports those hunts led to seven deer being illegally harvested during the 2021 and 2022 hunting seasons. Elrod's sentencing hearing was on Oct. 21, 2026.
Per the same account, Elrod received one year of probation, a five-year suspension of hunting privileges, a $40,000 fine and $20,000 in restitution. WREG reports that the hunts were advertised on Facebook and that a federal judge ordered Elrod to surrender his hunting license for five years.
Georgia Client Hauled Deer Home
The second man in the case, 39-year-old Thomas Boswell of Barnesville, Georgia, was one of Elrod's out-of-state clients, WREG reports. He hunted without a Tennessee hunting license and was responsible for the illegal harvest of five of the seven deer, according to WBBJ's reporting. The deer were transported back to Georgia.
Boswell was sentenced in July 2026. He was ordered to pay a $15,000 fine and $11,000 in restitution, and his hunting privileges were suspended for 18 months, WBBJ reports.
Federal Charges Under the Lacey Act
Prosecutors charged both men with violating the Lacey Act, a federal conservation law that bans the trafficking of illegally harvested wildlife, per the WBBJ report. Three agencies investigated the case: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
The location adds another wrinkle. The report notes that the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency designates Fayette County as a Chronic Wasting Disease Zone. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency says deer carcass transportation restrictions apply in its CWD Management Zone, and only approved parts may be moved out of the zone.
How Other Lacey Act Hunting Cases Have Played Out
Lacey Act hunting cases have drawn penalties of varying size elsewhere. In 2023, a Colorado hunter tied to a Nebraska hunt was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and $4,000 in restitution, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Against that backdrop, the penalties for Elrod and Boswell are sizable.
